catherine wheel
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.96 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
2
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
A rose window.
Example Sentences
- "Sorcerers are too common; cunning men, wizards, and white witches […] have commonly St. Catherine's wheel printed in the roof of their mouth, or in some other part about them […]"
- "[…] her tortures consisted of being broken on a wheel (later called Catherine wheel), but the machine broke down injuring bystanders; Catherine was beheaded."
- "She only lied to the boy to keep him from hurt, and for her sin her intestines were pulled from her on a Catherine wheel."
- "[Karoline] Leavitt threw Roman candles, Catherine wheels and smoke bombs in the air in the hope of distracting reporters. But she was unable to quash the nagging suspicion that Donald Trump has something to hide."
- "[…] she went on, making turns and twists, flourishing her skirts, kicking higher and higher, and finally, among a volley of shouts, fell on her hands and turned head over heels in a magnificent catherine-wheel; then scrambling to her feet again, she tumbled into the arms of a young man standing in the front of the ring."
- "We did a Catharine-wheel together down the passage. Somehow we gathered up a chair upon our way, and bounded on with it towards the street."
Etymology
Saint Catherine of Alexandria was said to have been sentenced to execution on such a wheel, which shattered at her touch.
Usage
- British usage
Inflected Forms
Catherine wheels (plural)
Catharine wheel (alternative)
Catharine-wheel (alternative)
Catherine-wheel (alternative)